Christmas Surprise
by Hayley128
Summary: Sequel to Snapshots, set during the first Christmas after the move back to Cleveland. Buffy knows what the perfect gift for Faith is. Or at least she hopes she does.


Title: Christmas Surprise

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I make no money from this.

Summary: Sequel to Snapshots, set during the first Christmas after the move back to Cleveland. Buffy knows what the perfect gift for Faith is. Or at least she hopes she does.

* * *

Faith might say she's perfectly happy living in Cleveland but I know that's not entirely true. I know she misses Miami and the center, even if she's there every few weeks. I definitely know she misses the warmth that comes with living there.

Hearing her swearing while shoveling the front step is evidence enough that she's not entirely thrilled with our current location.

She does it all for the boys though and they've started to like living here. We've had a couple snow storms already and they've loved building all the snowmen, having snowball fights and sledding down the hill near our house. Faith and I have been right there with them, helping them make forts and bringing them hot chocolate when they come in from the cold.

We just don't like it as much as them.

But that leads me to Christmas. I know that it was a sacrifice for Faith to move to Cleveland. It's like when we were first together and we fought over where we would live. She's getting the short end of the stick because it always seems like she's doing it my way.

I want this Christmas to be special and I've been thinking about it since we had to move here full time so the boys could go to school under the supervision of a watcher. Faith has given me everything and I want to give her everything. Actually finding something she wants is the hard part.

Faith is a hard person to shop for, so much so that the last two years I didn't even get her anything. After she would put the boys down on Christmas Eve she would just walk into our room to find me very naked, maybe with a bow around me. That seems to be all the present she ever needs and I'm confident that if I did that again she'd have no problem with it.

That's not what I want to do this year though so a couple months ago I started thinking. We don't buy each other big, outlandish presents even though we probably could. Faith has been known to go out and buy things we don't need, like that stupid boat, but the last thing we want is spoiled kids so she holds back on doing too much of it even though the money's there.

Hell, Faith's advisors even found another couple accounts last year she didn't know about. Money is never going to be a problem.

So gifts are pretty much out. Neither one of us wears much jewelry aside from our wedding rings and maybe a necklace or bracelet. We've come to an agreement not to buy clothes for each other, too. She usually only ends up buying lingerie and I never know how tight is too tight.

Then one day just before Halloween it hit me. We were getting the house decorated for a party for the kids and Faith was telling me about what the boys were doing when she picked them up from school. There was so much happiness in her voice and excitement. She's always so proud of them and what they do as they get older. She lives for them.

Which is why I want us to have another baby. More than that, I want to surprise Faith with it.

It's a subject both of us had been tiptoeing around since the Nick was up and walking. One of us would comment on how both Ty and Nick were growing up too fast and how weird it would be not to have a baby in the house. The topic wouldn't last long though because one of us would get nervous and change the subject. I know I didn't know if I really wanted to know what Faith thought but deep down I knew.

If we agreed I knew I could be pregnant pretty fast and that was a little scary a couple years ago. Now it's a little different. Nick just started kindergarten this year which means for the first time there's no little one running around with us during the day. Even though we're definitely using the new alone time to our advantage I feel like something's missing. I know Faith feels the same.

The only problem I had was I had no idea how to bring up the subject with her. It's one thing to say you miss having a baby around or that you wish the kids weren't growing up so fast but that's nowhere near saying you want another baby.

So what did I do? I chickened out and talked to Willow about it instead. It only took me a week to get her to perform that protection spell on me again. She wanted me to at least mention it to Faith but I assured her Faith would be fine with it.

And of course, I wanted it to be her Christmas gift.

Six weeks ago Willow performed the spell and told me something I definitely remembered: I had to have sex with Faith within 24 hours. It was something that I could only laugh at because there are very few days where Faith and I don't have sex. Even if we're tired there's still something going on.

The sex was amazing, just like it was when Nick was conceived. It felt the same, too, so much so that Faith even brought it up the next morning. I admit I panicked a little when she said something but then she made a comment about trying a repeat performance later and changed the subject. I breathed a big sigh of relief after that.

Now it's Christmas Eve and we're getting ready to go to headquarters for the Christmas party they have every year. I haven't been feeling well so we might not stay long and Faith's starting to get worried so I know I'm gonna have to tell her soon. I found out last week that I'm 100 percent pregnant so I've only been waiting for the right time.

"B," Faith calls out from the hall as she walks into our bedroom, "are you ready to go?"

I'm in our bathroom, smoothing out my dress after vomiting up the snack I had with the boys earlier. Morning sickness for me is more afternoon and night sickness. "Give me a minute."

I hear her walking through the bedroom and then she's leaning against the doorframe, looking me over. "Did you get sick again?"

I nod. "I should be fine for the party though."

When I look back at her she looks skeptical. "I don't know, babe. I don't want you to feel bad while everyone else is partying it up. We can skip this one."

"No, we can't," I say, smiling. "It'll look bad if the lead slayer isn't there. We can leave early if we need to."

"You know that won't happen once the boys start playing and we have a drink or two."

That's one thing Faith hasn't caught onto yet. The day after the protection spell I stopped drinking completely. "I can be the designated driver tonight."

She gives me a funny look. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't catch something from the boys or anyone at headquarters, did you?"

I shake my head. "No, baby. I'm fine, really."

Faith smiles at that and put her arms around me. "Good . . . if I didn't know any better I'd think you were pregnant."

When she says it I know I should laugh it off, mostly because I wanted to tell her tonight or tomorrow morning, but I don't. I didn't expect that response for her so I completely freeze instead and she notices instantly.

"B?" When I don't say anything right away she moves away enough to look into my eyes. "Buffy?"

I can't read the look in her eyes right now and it's starting to worry me. "I was gonna wait to tell you tonight after the party or tomorrow morning," I whisper out.

Her eyes are wide now and she takes a step back. "But how? I mean, it's not like we need birth control and we don't . . ." she doesn't finish that sentence because she was going to say something about cheating. She knows better than to ask that question. "How, B?"

"The same way as Nick."

"You did something that needed that protection spell?" Now she looks concerned. "Why didn't you tell me? Was it during my last trip to Miami? Did something go wrong?"

"No, no," I say quickly. "It's just . . . Faith, we always tiptoe around whether or not we wanted another baby and I have this strong feeling we both do. So I talked to Willow about doing the protection spell . . ."

"That night," Faith says before I can continue. "It was just like with Nicky. When you went to sleep I thought about that but figured it was just my imagination."

I sit down on the toilet seat and Faith sits on the edge of the tub. The master bath is pretty spacious so we're a few feet apart but across from each other. After a couple minutes of silence I can't take it anymore. "Faith, please say something."

When she looks at me I still can't read her face. "We're gonna have another baby?"

I nod. "I'm six weeks along."

For a second I think I've read her all wrong and that she's not gonna be happy with the fact we're gonna have another baby. I mean, Faith and I have been together for so long that I thought I had read her right. I look away from a second and when I look back again my wife is looking right at me . . . and she's starting to smile.

She moves so she's on her knees in front of me and places a hand against my stomach. "We're gonna have another baby."

I nod again. "Merry Christmas?"

Faith laughs quietly before giving me a light kiss and standing up, pulling me up with her. "B, this is the best present ever."

"Really?" I can feel the tears coming even though I'm overjoyed at her reaction.

"Buffy, you're pregnant with our baby," she says as she rests her forehead against mine. "I love Ty and Nicky more than anything. You really think I'm not thrilled that in nine months we'll have another just like them?"

"More like seven and a half," I correct quietly. "Sooner if it's like Nick."

"True." She laughs a little more. "We're gonna have another fucking baby!"

"So you're happy?"

Faith kisses me again but this time it's deeper and I can't help but respond. It's doesn't last long though because we hear a crash coming from Tyler's room. She laughs a little more but keeps her arms around me. "We better go check on them but baby . . . this is gonna be amazing."

She keeps her arm around me as we walk out of the room to investigate what the kids are doing. The whole time she's grinning like crazy and I am, too.

We're gonna have a bigger family soon.

The End


End file.
